Scorched Earth

Scorched Earth, the sequel to Fire in the East, covers the war in the Soviet Union from April 1942 through December 1944. Scorched Earth uses Fire in the East as a base (and cannot be played without Fire in the East), adding more maps, counters, and rules. The game requires two players - one for the Germans and one for the Soviets - or two teams of players. The size of the game makes it well-suited for team play, with up to 3 or 4 players per side.

Scorched Earth's three maps extend the coverage of those in Fire in the East. The maps cover: The Volga River, from its heavily forested northwestern reaches to its mouth at the edge of the deserts of Asia; the western shores of the Caspian Sea; the Caucasus Mountains area of the USSR, to the borders of Turkey and Iran.

Scorched Earth's sixteen counter sheets (3840 counters total) encompass the diversity of forces in this theatre. All Axis forces engaged in the east are shown, from German through the Axis Allies (Finnish, Hungarian, Italian, Rumanian, Slovakian), and including the eastern troops - Soviet citizens fighting against their government. The entire range of Soviet forces is given: regulars, guards, NKVD, militia, and the foreign contingents in the Red Army, including the Poles, Czechs, and even the German formations raised from prisoners of war. Over 40 different types of ground units are represented, from divisions (including division-sized Soviet Corps) to individual batteries of super-heavy artillery, such as tank corps, panzergrenadier divisions, artillery divisions, parachute brigades, and commando battalions. Aircraft units cover the many new aircraft sent to the front, such as the Fw 190 fighters and ground attack aircraft, Hs 129 tank-busters, A-20 and B-25 lend-lease bombers, Yak-9DD long-range fighters, and even late-war German jet aircraft.